The Commission for Deciding on Conflicts of Interest established on Friday that former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Martina Dalić was in a conflict of interest when, as a member of the Government’s Commission for Managing Strategic State-Owned Companies, and later as a member of the Government, she participated in making decisions proposing members of the Supervisory Board to the Assembly of INA, given that her husband Niko Dalić is a member of the Management Board of INA, and the Supervisory Board is responsible for deciding on the status and material rights of the members of the company’s Management Board.
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– It is established that official Martina Dalić was in a conflict of interest situation when participating in the decision-making of the Government’s Commission for Managing Strategic State-Owned Companies and the conclusion of the Government made at the session regarding the proposal to the General Assembly of the company INA for three members of the company, the Commission emphasized in its conclusion.
Martina Dalić Will Not Pay a Fine
However, Dalić will not have to pay any fine because, according to the law, no financial sanction is foreseen for such a situation.
The Commission concluded that Dalić was not in a conflict of interest during a series of meetings she attended related to negotiations with MOL regarding the purchase of INA shares.
The Commission, in the case of former SDP Sisak-Moslavina County Prefect Marina Lovrić Merzel, a member of the Croatian Parliament until December 28, 2015, decided that she violated the Law on Preventing Conflicts of Interest and that she should not have signed the contract for the transportation of primary school students and the annex to the contract between Sisak-Moslavina County and Čazmatrans, where the subcontractor is the company Unatrans, co-owned by her nephew.
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– From the data we collected, it follows that Sisak-Moslavina County and Čazmatrans entered into a contract for the transportation of primary school students before the public tender was conducted, and at that time the official’s nephew was not a partner, and after that, they entered into two more contracts and an annex to the contract. Both contracts, or the annex to the contract, were signed by Merzel. In those contracts, a contract for the transportation of students is concluded with the company Čazmatrans, but in the contract and the annex, it states that the subcontractor is Unatrans, which is owned by her nephew, said the Commission’s president Nataša Novaković.
Initiated Proceedings Against Members of Parliament of National Minorities
The Commission decided to initiate proceedings in the case of members of parliament of national minorities – Furio Radin, Veljko Kajtazi, and Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj, who, as members of the Council for National Minorities, allocated funds to associations of national minorities where they hold positions or are members.
– In a situation where officials have connections with a legal entity for which a decision is made, it would be advisable for them to abstain from discussing and making decisions, so the failure to act in such a manner is in a situation where the Commission will reconsider whether the decision-making is in accordance with responsible, credible, and objective decision-making, said Commission member Davorin Ivanjek.
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The Commission decided to initiate proceedings in the case of former Minister of Social Policy and Youth until October 19, 2016, Bernardica Juretić, related to signing a contract for providing social services with the association Home for Addicts ‘Community Encounter’, where she held the position of president until taking office as minister, and signing an annex to the contract which resulted in an increase in the amount of accommodation prices for users.
No Proceedings Initiated Against Tolušić and Lucić
The Commission decided not to initiate proceedings in the case of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Tomislav Tolušić and member of the Croatian Parliament Franjo Lucić, related to the complaint that Tolušić, as president of the Management Board of the Agency for Payments in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Development, favored Lucić by awarding subsidies to his son’s company Tomislav Lucić, although he was not allowed to according to the criteria.
Regarding the claim that the company Tofrado trgovina do.o. owned by Tomislav Lucić did not engage in agriculture until 2017 and was not registered for agricultural activities, the Commission concluded based on the collected data that this circumstance was not decisive for scoring the subject in the Agency’s tender, the length of time engaged in agriculture is not a criterion based on which points are awarded, but based on the length of business operations of the user, where the length of time engaged in agriculture as an activity is not necessarily counted.
The Commission established that a financing contract was concluded with Tofrado trgovina, but to date, the subject of the decision in the second phase of processing the request has not been executed and the user has not received any payments.
